"The foreign affairs department head of a country where the number of fear-inducing attacks against Jewish people has recently increased dramatically is calling our country anti-Semitic," the Hungarian foreign minister said, pointing out the absurdity of the claim by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
My colleague Antony Blinken has just criticized our country on the issue of religious freedom, saying that "officials" are using anti-Semitic rhetoric. This is a particularly nonsensical accusation from the foreign affairs department of a country where there has recently been a sharp rise in alarming attacks on Jewish people and anti-Semitic riots on university campuses. Meanwhile, Israel's national soccer team and club teams have chosen to play their matches in Hungary again next season because they feel safe here...
the Hungarian politician posted on his facebook page.
Speaking at the recent rollout of the International Religious Freedom Report for 2023, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said that officials in Hungary "continue to use anti-Semitic tropes and anti-Muslim rhetoric, and they penalize members of religious groups who criticize the government".
In stark contrast, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz on a visit to Budapest a few weeks ago called our country's stand against anti-Semitism exemplary.
"I wish that the fight against anti-Semitism that this country is waging could also be seen in Western Europe and the rest of the world," the Israel's foreign minister said..
In an earlier interview, Israel's Ambassador to Budapest Yacov Hadas-Handelsman said, "Hungary is just about the only place on the continent where a practicing religious Jew can walk the streets freely without having to be afraid."
In the United States, on the other hand, anti-Israel demonstrations have been commonplace since the October 7th attack on Israel by the Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas. Jewish people have been assaulted on the streets, activists have forcibly broken into the US legislature, and in higher education institutions,
Jewish people have been targeted in anti-Semitic demonstrations and building occupations that have escalated into violence.
One of the most shocking incidents happened in New York City when a man shouted the praises of Hitler at an exhibit commemorating the victims of the Nova music festival massacre, the New York Post reported. In a video circulating on social media, the man can be heard shouting to those paying tribute:
I wish Hitler was still here, he would’ve wiped you all out!
Cover photo: Hungarian Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Peter Szijjarto (Photo: MTI/Tamas Purger)
